Contras In U.s. Training At Secret Site

November 20, 1986|By Washington Post

WASHINGTON — A contingent of about 70 Nicaraguan rebels has begun receiving U.S.-sponsored military training at an undisclosed location in the United States -- the first major sign that direct U.S. support of the contras has resumed, administration sources said Wednesday.

The sources and rebel officials declined to specify where the training is taking place, but one administration official said the location could be a U.S. military reservation or ''sites that look similar to military sites but belong to the CIA.''

The Reagan administration has assigned to the CIA the task of managing day-to-day operations of the recently approved $100 million aid program to the rebels.

Although the military is expected to assist the CIA in training the contras, officials declined to say Wednesday who is conducting the program.

Adolfo Calero, head of the contras' largest guerrilla force of an estimated 11,000 fighters, said Wednesday that the training, which began two weeks ago, will last six weeks, and that the process will be repeated for additional contra groups. He said most trainees are officers.

U.S. officials have said the administration had sought to have the training take place in Central America, but Costa Rica, El Salvador and Honduras refused. The three countries did not want to risk retaliation from Nicaragua's leftist Sandinista government, officials said.

Despite the start of U.S.-sponsored training for the first time in two years, Calero and other contra leaders Wednesday expressed concern that they have not yet begun to receive weapons, equipment and other military supplies -- nearly a month after President Reagan signed an order formally opening the flow of aid.

''We do hope things can be speeded up,'' said Calero, who is in Washington for meetings with U.S. officials.